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The rational design of electrolytes has been a long-standing challenge in chemistry and materials science. In this work, we demonstrate a computational rationale for improving the performance of weakly coordinating electrolytes in currently challenging multivalent-ion battery applications, based on enhanced thermodynamic and kinetic stability against reductive decomposition. A series of fluorinated alkoxyborate and alkoxyaluminate salts are systematically examined based on their reduction and oxidation potentials and, motivated by NMR spectroscopy, detailed reductive decomposition pathways involving the breaking of Al/B-O, C-O, or C-F bonds are obtained. Based on the decomposition kinetics, the hexafluoro-tert-isopropoxy (hfip) ligand for borates and the trifluoro-tert-butoxy (tftb) ligand for aluminates are identified as promising ligands for constructing the salt anions. This borate prediction corroborates previous experimental work on Mg[B(hfip)4]2and Ca[B(hfip)4]2, in which excellent electrochemical properties were reported. We find that steric factors govern the B-O bond-breaking decomposition kinetics while electronic factors are more important for aluminate salts. There is more charge transfer character in the aluminate transition states compared with borates for Al/B-O bond-breaking decomposition and thus electron-withdrawing ligands tend to stabilize the aluminate transition states. Such molecular-level understandings allow for better design principles for developing new electrolytes with improved stability and performance.

Optogenetic effectors and sensors provide a novel real-time window into complex physiological processes, enabling determination of molecular signaling processes within functioning cellular networks. However, the combination of these optical tools in mice is made practical by construction of genetic lines that are optically compatible and genetically tractable. We present a new toolbox of 21 mouse lines with lineage-specific expression of optogenetic effectors and sensors for direct biallelic combination, avoiding the multiallelic requirement of Cre recombinase -mediated DNA recombination, focusing on models relevant for cardiovascular biology. Optogenetic effectors (11 lines) or Ca2+ sensors (10 lines) were selectively expressed in cardiac pacemaker cells, cardiomyocytes, vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, alveolar epithelial cells, lymphocytes, glia, and other cell types. Optogenetic effector and sensor function was demonstrated in numerous tissues. Arterial/arteriolar tone was modulated by optical activation of the second messengers InsP3 (optoα1AR) and cAMP (optoß2AR), or Ca2+-permeant membrane channels (CatCh2) in smooth muscle (Acta2) and endothelium (Cdh5). Cardiac activation was separately controlled through activation of nodal/conducting cells or cardiac myocytes. We demonstrate combined effector and sensor function in biallelic mouse crosses: optical cardiac pacing and simultaneous cardiomyocyte Ca2+ imaging in Hcn4BAC-CatCh2/Myh6-GCaMP8 crosses. These experiments highlight the potential of these mice to explore cellular signaling in vivo, in complex tissue networks.

A dicopper complex featuring a symmetrically bridging nitrile ligand and supported by a binucleating naphthyridine-based ligand, [Cu2(μ-η 1 :η 1 -MeCN)DPFN](NTf2)2, was treated with phosphaalkynes (RC[triple bond, length as m-dash]P, isoelectronic analogues of nitriles) to yield dicopper complexes that exhibit phosphaalkynes in rare μ-η 2:η 2 binding coordination modes. X-ray crystallography revealed that these unusual "tilted" structures exist in two isomeric forms (R "up" vs. R "sideways"), depending on the steric profile of the phosphaalkyne's alkyl group (R = Me, Ad, or t Bu). Only one isomer is observed in both solution and the solid state for R = Me (sideways) and t Bu (up). With intermediate steric bulk (R = Ad), the energy difference between the two geometries is small enough that both are observed in solution, and NMR spectroscopy and computations indicate that the solid-state structure corresponds to the minor isomer observed in solution. Meanwhile, treatment of [Cu2(μ-η 1:η 1-MeCN)DPFN](NTf2)2 with 2-butyne affords [Cu2(μ-η 2:η 2-(MeC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CMe))DPFN](NTf2)2: its similar ligand geometry demonstrates that the tilted μ-η 2:η 2 binding mode is not limited to phosphaalkynes but reflects a more general trend, which can be rationalized via an NBO analysis showing maximization of π-backbonding.

We show that using complex, spin-restricted orbitals in Kohn-Sham (KS) density functional theory allows one to access a new class of densities that is not accessible by either spin-restricted (RKS) or spin-unrestricted (UKS) orbitals. We further show that the real part of a complex RKS (CRKS) density matrix can be nonidempotent when the imaginary part of the density matrix is not zero. Using CRKS orbitals shows significant improvements in the triplet-singlet gaps of a benchmark set, called TS12, for well-established, widely used density functionals. Moreover, it was shown that RKS and UKS yield qualitatively wrong charge densities and spin densities, respectively, leading to worse energetics. We demonstrate that representative modern density functionals show surprisingly no improvement even with a qualitatively more accurate density from CRKS orbitals. To this end, our work not only provides a way to escape the symmetry dilemma whenever there exists a CRKS solution, but also suggests a new route to design better approximate density functionals.

Coupled cluster valence bond (CCVB) is a simple electronic structure method based on a perfect pairing (PP) reference with 2-pair recouplings for strong electron correlation problems. CCVB is spin-pure, size-consistent, and can exactly (in its active space) separate any molecule into atoms for which unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) at dissociation is the sum of the ground state UHF energies of the atoms. However CCVB is far from a complete description of strong correlations. Its first failure to exactly describe spin-recouplings arises at the level of 3 electron pairs, such as the recoupling of 3 triplet oxygen atoms in the dissociation of singlet ozone. Such situations are often associated with spin frustration. To address this limitation, an extension of CCVB, termed CCVB+i3, is reported here that includes an independent (i) amplitude approximation to the 3-pair recouplings. CCVB+i3 thereby has the same basic computational requirements as those of CCVB, which has previously been shown to be an efficient method. CCVB+i3 correctly separates molecules that CCVB cannot. As a by-product, an independent 2-pair amplitude approximation to CCVB, called PP+i2, is also defined. Remarkably, PP+i2 can also correctly separate systems that CCVB cannot. CCVB+i3 is validated on the symmetric dissociation of D3h ozone. CCVB+i3 is then used to explore the role of 3-pair recouplings in an [Fe4S4(SCH3)4]2- cluster that has been used to model the iron-sulfur core of [Fe4S4] ferredoxins. Using localized PP orbitals, such recouplings are demonstrated to be large in some low-lying singlet excited states of the cluster. Significant 3 pair recoupling amplitudes include the usual triangular motif associated with spin frustration and other geometric arrangements of the 3 entangled pairs across the 4 iron centers.

The Coupled Cluster Valence Bond (CCVB) method, previously presented for closed-shell (CS) systems, is extended to open-shell (OS) systems. The theoretical development is based on embedding the basic OS CCVB wavefunction in a fictitious singlet super-system. This approach reveals that the OS CCVB amplitude equations are quite similar to those of CS CCVB, and thus that OS CCVB requires the same level of computational effort as CS CCVB, which is an inexpensive method. We present qualitatively correct CCVB potential energy curves for all low-lying spin states of P2 and Mn2+. CCVB is successfully applied to the low-lying spin states of some model linear polycarbenes, systems that appear to be a hindrance to standard density functionals. We examine an octa-carbene dimer in a side-by-side orientation, which, in the monomer dissociation limit, exhibits maximal strong correlation over the length of the polycarbene.

We demonstrate a block-tensor based implementation of coupled-cluster valence-bond singles and doubles (CCVB-SD) [Small, D. W.; Head-Gordon M. J. Chem. Phys. 2012, 137, 114103] which is a simple modification to restricted CCSD (RCCSD) that provides a qualitatively correct description of valence correlations even in strongly correlated systems. We derive the Λ-equation of CCVB-SD and the corresponding unrelaxed density matrices. The resulting production-level implementation is applied to oligoacenes, correlating up to 318 electrons in 318 orbitals. CCVB-SD shows a qualitative agreement with exact methods for short acenes and reaches the bulk limit of oligoacenes in terms of natural orbital occupation numbers, whereas RCCSD shows nonvariational behavior even for relatively short acenes. A significant reduction in polyradicaloid character is found when correlating all valence electrons instead of only the π-electrons.

We introduce a necessary and sufficient condition for an arbitrary wavefunction to be collinear, i.e., its spin is quantized along some axis. It may be used to obtain a cheap and simple computational procedure to test for collinearity in electronic structure theory calculations. We adapt the procedure for Generalized Hartree Fock (GHF), and use it to study two dissociation pathways in CO2. For these dissociation processes, the GHF wave functions transform from low-spin Unrestricted Hartree Fock (UHF) type states to noncollinear GHF states and on to high-spin UHF type states, phenomena that are succinctly illustrated by the constituents of the collinearity test. This complements earlier GHF work on this molecule.

A summary of the technical advances that are incorporated in the fourth major release of the Q-Chem quantum chemistry program is provided, covering approximately the last seven years. These include developments in density functional theory methods and algorithms, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) property evaluation, coupled cluster and perturbation theories, methods for electronically excited and open-shell species, tools for treating extended environments, algorithms for walking on potential surfaces, analysis tools, energy and electron transfer modelling, parallel computing capabilities, and graphical user interfaces. In addition, a selection of example case studies that illustrate these capabilities is given. These include extensive benchmarks of the comparative accuracy of modern density functionals for bonded and non-bonded interactions, tests of attenuated second order Møller-Plesset (MP2) methods for intermolecular interactions, a variety of parallel performance benchmarks, and tests of the accuracy of implicit solvation models. Some specific chemical examples include calculations on the strongly correlated Cr2 dimer, exploring zeolite-catalysed ethane dehydrogenation, energy decomposition analysis of a charged ter-molecular complex arising from glycerol photoionisation, and natural transition orbitals for a Frenkel exciton state in a nine-unit model of a self-assembling nanotube.

Restricted Hartree Fock using complex-valued orbitals (cRHF) is studied. We introduce an orbital pairing theorem, with which we obtain a concise connection between cRHF and real-valued RHF, and use it to uncover the close relationship between cRHF, unrestricted Hartree Fock, and generalized valence bond perfect pairing. This enables an intuition for cRHF, contrasting with the generally unintuitive nature of complex orbitals. We also describe an efficient computer implementation of cRHF and its corresponding stability analysis. By applying cRHF to the Be + H2 insertion reaction, a Woodward-Hoffmann violating reaction, and a symmetry-driven conical intersection, we demonstrate in genuine molecular systems that cRHF is capable of removing certain potential energy surface singularities that plague real-valued RHF and related methods. This complements earlier work that showed this capability in a model system. We also describe how cRHF is the preferred RHF method for certain radicaloid systems like singlet oxygen and antiaromatic molecules. For singlet O2, we show that standard methods fail even at the equilibrium geometry. An implication of this work is that, regardless of their individual efficacies, cRHF solutions to the HF equations are fairly commonplace.